Modular Webhelp

[Alexey Zhebel]

In my main webhelp TOC I added two entries that are weblinks, pointing to two other smaller webhelps. The smaller webhelps are located on the same server in two subfolders inside the folder with the main webhelp.

So the main webhelp URL is: http://server/webhelp/index.html
The first small one is: http://server/webhelp/A/index.html
The second small one is: http://server/webhelp/B/index.html

I have two questions:
1. To make Disqus comments work in all three webhelps, will I need to set up three accounts and use a different skin each time (specifying the full URL of each webhelp separately)? Or does Disqus understand relative URLs?
2. How can I add a custom icon for the weblinks in the TOC? I don't want them to look like topics but the skin settings allow to either use default icons or specify only custom collapsed chapter, expanded chapter and topic. As an example, H&M webhelp uses a custom icon for the Premium Pack section http://help.ec-software.com/ (btw, is it modular?)

[Tim Green]

Hi Alexey,

1. To make Disqus comments work in all three webhelps, will I need to set up three accounts and use a different skin each time (specifying the full URL of each webhelp separately)? Or does Disqus understand relative URLs?

I'm not entirely sure on this because this issue has never come up. If it works with one account and Disqus forum, the additional sites will definitely have to be in subfolders of your original Disqus URL. Give it a try with a small experimental WebHelp folder doing that with your current account. It's possible that it may not work, it depends on how Disqus resolves the links. It will also be very important to make sure that you don't have any duplicate topic IDs across your different collections, because the Disqus IDs for the comments are the topic IDs.

2. How can I add a custom icon for the weblinks in the TOC?

This is only possible if you turn off the custom icons in the skin and use the icons generated by Help & Manual instead. Then you can set different icons for the individual topics in your project itself. When you use WebHelp custom icons you can only use the three standard icons.

[Alexey Zhebel]

Hi, Tim! Thanks!

Is it possible to generate a webhelp without any icons in the TOC at all? Leaving only the plus/minus signs next to topic and chapter names in the TOC.

If this is possible, can I make all chapters bold and topics with regular font? I can see how to change styles of levels in the TOC source code, but it looks like I can't control styles based on whether it's a chapter or a topic?

[Alexey Zhebel]

So I want it to look like the TOC in H&M editor, but without topic or chapter icons — only plus/minus signs for chapters and nothing for topics. Also, how can I add dotted lines to the webhelp TOC?

[Tim Green]

Hi Alexey,

You can achieve no-icons TOC with a trick: Just define some transparent GIFs as your custom icons and use those. For just a -/+ effect use a GIF with everything transparent except the + and - characters in the correct position. You should be able to achieve lines with the same method: Put the lines in the icon graphics and adjust the CSS for the TOC until you get them matching.

[Alexey Zhebel]

Of course, I can draw the lines. Thanks a lot, Tim. You're always of great help.

[Alexey Zhebel]

No, I can't create lines like that. There are only three icon types: expanded chapter, collapsed chapter and topic. This doesn't take into account whether the topic or chapter is the first or last in the section, etc.

Also, what about styling chapters and topics? I can change styles for levels, but what if I just want to distinguish separate styles for chapters and topics?

[Tim Green]

Hi Alexey,

You're right -- my suggestion was just based on the basic principle, I hadn't tried it with the HM TOC yet. I'm afraid a TOC with lines would require a rewrite of the scripts as well.

Also, what about styling chapters and topics? I can change styles for levels, but what if I just want to distinguish separate styles for chapters and topics?

I'm afraid the classes added to the TOC only reflect the levels. The only way to identify chapters and topics would be with dynamic scripting. You'd have to either identify chapters by the presence of sub-topics or by checking the icons that HM has assigned to it. I wouldn't really recommend it -- apart from anything else it wouldn't work on computers with JavaScript turned off...